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American Morning
Cheaper Kindle with Ads; Gas Prices Put Pressure on Economy; Trying to "Land" a Space Shuttle; Trouble on the Tarmac; General McChrystal's New Post; Hitting the Debt Ceiling; JFK Runway Collision; Serial Killer's 9th Victim?; D. C. Mayor Arrested; Fukushima Maximum Nuclear Alert; Leaf's Starting Trouble; U2 Tour is the Biggest Ever; Study: Strawberries Stop Cancer; New Drug Tested for Weight Loss; Beware of the Meat Monster
Aired April 12, 2011 - 06:59 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALI VELSHI, CNN ANCHOR (voice-over): Another chilling discovery on a foreseen (ph) Long Island Beach. This time, it's a human skull, and it could be the ninth victim of a serial killer who remains on the loose on this AMERICAN MORNING.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Good morning. It's Tuesday, April 12th. Welcome to AMERICAN MORNING. I'm Ali Velshi.
ROMANS: And I'm Christine Romans. Kiran has the morning off today, but news this hour, D.C. mayor, Vincent Gray, released overnight after being arrested at a budget protest yesterday afternoon. His says his city is handcuffed by Congress. We caught up with him right when he walked out of jail.
VELSHI: Also ahead, crisis at America's gas stations, soaring prices distress drivers. When am I going to see $4 gas? Probably not too long from now. We're "Minding Your Business"
ROMANS: And we begin this hour with an unbelievable scare on the tarmac at New York's JFK Airport, and the whole thing captured on tape. Amateur video posted on WNBC's Web site. Late last night --
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI (voice-over): Watch this.
ROMANS (voice-over): It shows an Air France Airbus A380 taxiing and then colliding with a Delta Commuter plane that had just landed after a flight from Boston. Look at the commuter plane just moving around.
VELSHI: Moving like a little toy. The A380 is the biggest commercial jet around. It's a double Decker. There it is. Other plane -- commuter jet carrying about 70 people. This big one can carry over 500 people. These are new pictures taken at JFK this morning. You can see the damage to the wing that the -- on the A380. The airplane holds a lot of people. One of them on board was CNN's Jim Bittermann.
VOICE OF JIM BITTERMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: From the gate it was going probably five, seven miles an hour, something like that, made the turn away from the gate and a slight rumble. And it felt to me like, you know, maybe they hit a rough patch of pavement or something like that, but the pilot immediately stopped the plane. And within I would say a minute or two, the fire trucks started arriving around the plane.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: The Port Authority, which is the body that manages the airport, says no one on either plane was injured. The FAA is investigating.
ROMANS: OK, there are new developments this morning in the case of an air traffic controller caught sleeping at the Knoxville, Tennessee, airport earlier this year. The FAA suspended 27-year-old Jonathan Keith Poindexter. Now officials say he's on probation for an incident last year where he allegedly threatened his girlfriend with a gun. He was given an administrative position and then reinstated a month later.
VELSHI: A search for a serial killer in the suburbs of New York is intensifying this morning after police discovered what appears to be a human skull near a Long Island beach. It could be the ninth victim of a suspected serial killer. Jason Carroll joins us with the latest developments. Jason, this thing has been unfolding for months.
JASON CARROLL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Nine victims so far, possibly ten. Investigators did find more remains late yesterday afternoon near a bird sanctuary in a remote beach area. Police found the remains after spending the day searching for the brush along a parkway for more victims of a possible serial killer.
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LT. KEVIN SMITH, NASSAU COUNTY POLICE: It's all very been startling. All of it has been. I don't have a reaction for you because it's amazing that we're fining these things. So obviously we have a lot of work to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Well, the discovery comes on the first day authorities expanded their search. Since December, police have found the remains of eight people, all eight in the same area. That area located just a few miles from where police found yesterday's remains. So far four victims have been identified. All worked as prostitutes who advertised on Craigslist. Police suspect a single person may be responsible for their murders.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ED MANGANO, NASSAU COUNTY EXECUTIVE: Collectively, we want to bring to justice this animal that has, obviously, taken the lives of a number of people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
CARROLL: Well, the missing person's case that prompted this entire investigation involves Shannon Gilbert. Gilbert was an escort, and last May she was seen in the area when a witness says she banged on his door, begging for help, saying someone was trying to kill her. He called 911. Gilbert ran away.
And there is another bit of an update we have for you this morning on the search. Police did find another set of remains yesterday, but they could not confirm if that set of remains are human. If they, in fact, do, that would then bring the total to ten instead of nine.
ROMANS: You keep saying possible serial killer. Yet, officials say they think that one person may have been responsible for this. We don't know yet.
CARROLL: Right, because more evidence has to be collected and when you're trying to collect evidence from the remains, some of them that have been out there more than a year, it's very difficult. So that's why they're saying one person, possibly more than one.
VELSHI: What a story. Jason, thanks very much for that.
CARROLL: OK.
VELSHI: And we're getting a closer look at the deal to cut government spending by more than $38.5 billion. That was the agreement that prevented a shutdown on Friday night. It trims $10 million from food safety and inspection. The bill also cuts the EPA's budget by about $1.6 billion. Also for the first time, the amount of money going to the Department of Homeland Security will be going down.
ROMANS: The Bill eliminates about $2.9 billion for high speed rails, a priority of President Obama's. The House is scheduled to vote on president Obama's 11th hour compromise tomorrow, the Senate shortly after.
VELSHI: D.C. mayor Vincent Gray released from jail after he was arrested on Capitol Hill yesterday. He was one of about 40 people protesting a part of the budget deal struck on the weekend which bans the District of Columbia from spending its money to provide abortions for low-income women.
He sent out a tweet yesterday saying "I am calling on all residents of D.C. to join us now at the Hart Senate office to stand for our freedom." Then he tweeted, "getting arrested on the hill for D.C. autonomy." Here he is after he was released early yesterday morning. He paid his $50 fine and then he spoke to reporters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) MAYOR VINCENT GRAY, WASHINGTON: The importance of this, to me, is that we needed to make a statement that what has happened in this budget process and what has happened repeatedly to the District of Columbia is just completely unacceptable. These riders that have been placed on our budget are completely unacceptable, the fact that we were pulled into this process in the first place, completely unacceptable.
And it's time for the people of the District of Columbia to stand up and let this nation know, that we want to be first-class citizens like everybody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: He's referring to being first-class citizens. The problem is under federal law, D.C. isn't like everybody else in the country. The city's local budget, the city's budget has to be approved by congress.
ROMANS: A new round of tremors overnight in Japan, including another 4.6 magnitude earthquake that struck on Japan's east coast about 120 miles from Tokyo. Meantime officials say the radiation risk from Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant is worse than previously thought.
The nuclear threat level has been raised from five to seven, the highest level on the international scale, and it's on par with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986, the worst nuclear accident in history.
By comparison the Three Mile Island accident was classified as a category five. Earlier on "American Morning," former nuclear plant operator Michael Friedlander said while Fukushima isn't exactly Chernobyl, the signs aren't good.
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MICHAEL FRIEDLANDER, FORMER NUCLEAR PLANT OPERATOR: The power plant was severely damaged. We don't exactly know what the condition it's been in. But just one data point, the fact that we're sitting here a month after the event, still not on a long-term situation of core cooling, we still don't have a backup emergency power supply, and we're still injecting off of water brought in by the U.S. Navy several weeks ago is a disturbing situation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ROMANS: Japanese officials have widened the evacuation zone around the Fukushima plant. Meantime, U.S. nuclear regulators are investigating an accident at a Nebraska power plant. Officials say three plant workers were accidentally exposed to radiation last week. Those workers triggered alarms by incorrectly moving a radioactive tube. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission believes they were not exposed to radiation above safety limits.
VELSHI: A female sports reporter barred from entering the men's locker room during the final round of the masters. She says the way she was treated at the Augusta national golf club is inexcusable.
ROMANS: Here name is Tara Sullivan with "The Bergen Record" in New Jersey. She was trying to interview Rory McIlroy after he coughed up a four-shot lead. But a female security guard wouldn't let her follow the golfer into the players' locker room. Sullivan says she tried to tell the guard it was against the law to stop her from doing her job.
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TARA SULLIVAN, "BERGEN RECORD": I didn't get into any sort of shouting matches or start quoting the federal law that mandates equal access once the locker room is open. It almost stunned me at the time, but I was so focused on trying to finish my job and do my reporting it wasn't until later when I tweeted that everything seemed to take off in a news cycle.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELSHI: Augusta National is apologizing for the guard's action. They said "It should not have happened. We will work as hard as we can to make sure it doesn't happen again."
ROMANS: Can women be members of Augusta? Still to come,
Still to come, a Republican front runner makes his move, Mitt Romney taking the next step toward a run for the White House.
VELSHI: We'll tell you how his big announcement is going and why he thinks he's presidential material.
ROMANS: Also, extreme weather damaging homes, knocking out power for thousands of people in the south. We're tracking the latest forecast after the break. You're watching "American Morning."
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ROMANS: Parts of North Dakota remain underwater this morning, devastated by some of the worst flooding the state has seen. In Fargo the Red River has broken its banks reaching 39 feet. Normal levels are, you know, somewhere shy of 20 feet. Three people have been killed by these floods.
VELSHI: More than 20,000 people in central Alabama lost power during a violent storm overnight. A lot of destruction reported in Jefferson and Shelby Counties where dozens of homes and cars have been flattened by uprooted trees.
(WEATHER BREAK)
VELSHI: Mitt Romney taking the official first step in his bid to become the president of the United States. The former governor of Massachusetts announced yesterday that he is setting up a presidential exploratory committee. The Republican frontrunner says the country is going into the wrong direction and he is the man to turn it around.
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MITT ROMNEY, (R) FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR: From my vantage point in business and in government, I've become convinced that America has been put on a dangerous course by Washington politicians and it's become even worse during the last two years. But I'm also convinced that with able leadership, America's best days are still ahead.
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ROMANS: Former Olympic sprinter Carl Lewis is trying to reach a new finish line. He says he's running for office because his charity work isn't solving enough of the state's problems. He's on the Democratic ticket and plans to focus on two issues if he wins, education and making New Jersey more affordable.
VELSHI: Impressive guy, Carl Lewis.
Beyonce giving the first lady a boost in her attempt to tackle childhood obesity. The Grammy winning pop star is releasing a video called "Let's Move Flash Workout" a rewritten version of her hit "Get me Bodied" and released across middle schools across the country on May 3rd.
We could do dancing here.
(LAUGHTER)
ROMANS: For more on these stories and all things politics logon to CNN.com/politics.
Up next, you're forking over a lot more money for less gas. How high can we expect gas prices to go? The answer right after this.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELSHI: OK. So I use a Kindle.
ROMANS: You do?
VELSHI: Yes. And so there's this neat idea, they're letting you save 25 bucks on a new Kindle but a catch. You've got to be willing to put up with ads that will pop up. They'll appear on the bottom of the Kindle's home screen and as screen savers.
I don't mind the concept. I'm not sure 25 bucks will do it for me, but it's interesting.
ROMANS: Maybe a Kindle for 25 bucks would make it.
VELSHI: Sure. Kindle price for 25 bucks and then show me the ads.
ROMANS: But the prices have been coming down for all of these handheld readers anyway.
VELSHI: Yes, yes.
ROMANS: So --
VELSHI: A lot of people say once they get to 100 bucks, they'll be --
ROMANS: That's the sweetest price. That's right.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: OK. The trial made famous in the movie "The Social Network" may finally be over. A federal appeals court ruling Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss --
VELSHI: The Winklevii.
ROMANS: The Winklevii can't back out of a settlement deal they signed in 2008 over the creation of Facebook. The Winklevoss twins claim Mark Zuckerberg stole their idea. Then later, they charged Facebook, misrepresented its stock value in the settlement. So they got a settlement.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: They got reportedly millions of dollars to settle with Zuckerberg.
VELSHI: Yes.
The judge says maybe they were misrepresented. Maybe they didn't but you guys made a deal and you accepted the terms of the deal.
Hey, Applebee's, this story gets better and better, promising now to change its drink policy after a 15-month-old had to be rushed to the hospital because he was served margarita mix instead of apple juice. (INAUDIBLE) sink in for a second.
ROMANS: Tequila in the margarita mix?
VELSHI: Yes, there was booze in there. The restaurant chain says from now on juice will only be poured from single serve containers at the table because at least two other incidents like this one have been reported at Applebee's since 2006.
ROMANS: What?
VELSHI: How does that solve the problem? How does that -- if you're not supposed to serve alcohol to people --
ROMANS: To babies.
VELSHI: -- evidence that there's a bottle, you know, that you're taking -- there should be a better system.
ROMANS: Well, so it sounds like they're going to use juice boxes. VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: For single or, you know -- OK.
VELSHI: How about you just don't serve booze to kids?
ROMANS: Gas prices on the rise. Already Americans are starting to apply the brakes when it comes to spending elsewhere. Carmen Wong Ulrich is "Minding Your Business."
Hello, Carmen.
CARMEN WONG ULRICH, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Good morning. That's good business to not serve booze to kid.
VELSHI: Yes, right.
ULRICH: Very good business move.
ROMANS: Yes, it is.
ULRICH: Gas prices, I'll tell you, they are something else. You know, 70 percent of the nation's gas stations are now reporting that for the past five weeks, well, we've been buying less gas. As we approach $4 a gallon at the national average, a lot of folks are not happy. Take a listen.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $4.19 a gallon, that's ridiculous. It's absolutely absurd.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to drive and they don't pay mileage. So it's really, really sticking me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know, they're getting all the bailouts and the brakes and we're getting squeezed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It's L.A., so it's even worse than most places.
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ULRICH: So how high can it go? Well, chief oil analyst Tom Kloza places his bets at the odds of going over $4.11 a gallon on average. This was the height over in 2008, around 40 percent. Those would be some good odds there.
Now what happens beyond $4 a gallon? Well, Kloza says, you know, $4 a gallon for an extended period of time we're going to have dire consequences for the consumer economy. And this makes some sense because with folks cutting back at the pump, they're also going to be cutting back on some spending as well.
We're going to be looking at retail sales numbers released tomorrow. We expect those to be a little bit lower. Also, summer travel, this is going to really impact not only driving but the airlines as well.
Now the last time gas was this high, it was during the recession. But now we are in a period of growth so it's going to be interesting to see how we react to this in terms of is it going to really cut that deep.
ROMANS: You know, it's interesting because people might not even feel that payroll tax holiday that they have this year.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: You get a little extra money in your paycheck because of the payroll tax holiday --
ULRICH: Yes.
ROMANS: -- except you're spending it on gas and then -- VELSHI: I would venture increasing price of gas is psychologically more damaging than the benefit of a payroll holiday.
ULRICH: Oh, absolutely.
ROMANS: I think you're right.
ULRICH: Absolutely, absolutely. And you got to see, the smaller cars, the fuel efficient cars, those sales, through the roof.
VELSHI: Yes.
ULRICH: SUVs way down. That's a trend that's going to stick.
VELSHI: We have more of those fuel efficient cars than we did the last time gas was this high.
ULRICH: Absolutely. At least we're not paying $8 a gallon like in Europe.
VELSHI: Yes.
ULRICH: Now for your morning market check. Well, market is pretty flat. Dow was up one. Nasdaq down about nine. S&P down almost four points.
ROMANS: One. One.
ULRICH: If you're trading, might as well stay home on a day like that.
ROMANS: Absolutely. Thanks, Carmen.
VELSHI: Thanks, Carmen.
All right. We've been talking a lot about your kids' health at school from food allergies to the type of food your kids are being served. Well, this morning, a one-time staple in cafeteria is coming under attack. Chocolate milk. ROMANS: No!
VELSHI: No booze in it. It is something that critics claim is nothing more than a sugar-packed snack drink.
ROMANS: There's a lot of sugar in it.
VELSHI: In fact, the number of schools have banned it. But in Fairfax County, Virginia, a new low fat version of the drink is back on the menu after parents complained from -- complained about it. Students, nutritionists and special groups' interests were also involved in that.
ROMANS: And I got two little boys who love chocolate milk.
In one Chicago school, a mom's homemade lunch is no longer an option. The Little Village Academy is banning the brown bagged lunches from home unless a student has a medical excuse. The reason, the principal says nutrition wise, the food they serve is healthier. As you can imagine, not all parents are on board with the school's decision.
So we want to know what you think. Should your child be allowed to bring his or her lunch to school? Weigh in on our blog, CNN.com/am. We're also on Twitter at CNNam. We'll be reading some of your thoughts tomorrow at the same time.
VELSHI: And it's the end of an era at NASA. The space shuttle program shuts down this summer. Later this morning, a lot of museums will find out if they landed a piece of history.
ROMANS: And he once commanded U.S. troops in Afghanistan. Now, General Stanley McChrystal will lead a new effort to help soldiers and their families.
It's 22 minutes past the hour.
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VELSHI: Christine and I were just talking about --
ROMANS: Space junkies.
VELSHI: We're space junkies. And really, that's not that weird. I mean, every kid is.
ROMANS: You know, it's part of American history.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Most Americans. And you go to Cape Canaveral or many places in Florida or Houston --
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: -- I mean, it's amazing to see these Apollo mission. You know, things with Apollo -- or the air and space museum in Washington, D.C.
VELSHI: Right.
ROMANS: All the kids get to go there and see the birth of American space travel.
VELSHI: And now, there'll be another big piece of history with America's space shuttle program which is being phased out this summer. Dozens of museums across the country are hoping to land a little bit of that history.
ROMANS: Later today, NASA will announce where the retiring space shuttles will go on permanent display. John Zarrella live from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida this morning.
We all grew up, John, seeing these --
VELSHI: He's a space junky more than anybody.
ROMANS: -- seeing these pieces of history and hearing the stories about them and now to think the shuttle program is part of that history.
JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. And today, you know, it really crystallizes and finalizes the fact that this is it.
The space shuttle program is coming to an end. And today is decision day. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden is going to be here at the Kennedy Space Center this afternoon for a ceremony that marks the 30th anniversary of the very first space shuttle flight. John Young and Bob Crippen on board "Columbia" lifted off from here April 12th, 1981. He's going to use that opportunity to announce which sites around the country will be awarded space shuttles.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA (voice-over): One wall of the new space gallery is already up. At the Museum of Flight in Seattle, it's like hoping if you build it, a space shuttle will come.
DOUG KING, PRES., MUSEUM OF FLIGHT: I think confident might be too strong a word. Hopeful is probably a better one. NASA put together a set of requirements for museums around the country to respond to. We think that we have responded positively.
ZARRELLA: The Seattle museum is one of nearly two dozen museums, planetariums and visitor centers across the country looking to land a space shuttle orbiter. In Texas, home of the Johnson Space Center, members of Congress publicly lobbied for their home state.
REP. PETER OLSON (R), TEXAS: There's no community in the world, none in the world, that deserves an orbiter more than Houston, Texas.
ZARRELLA: The drama mirrors the bidding to host an Olympic games with good reason. If your city gets one, the iconic winged flying machines will generate tens of millions in increased revenues every year. The Intrepid Museum in the Big Apple estimates an orbiter translates to a 30 percent increase in attendance.
SUSAN MARENOFF, EXEC. DIR INTREPID MUSEUM: Over 300,000 people additional to the Intrepid to New York City, couple that with the $106 million in economic benefits, we think that's a pretty good deal.
ZARRELLA: A pretty good deal because the price tag for each orbiter, "Discovery," "Atlantis" and "Endeavour" is $28.8 million. The cost to NASA for cleaning up and making them museum ready.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
ZARRELLA: Now, this shuttle you see behind me, that's not a real one. That's a mock-up here at the Kennedy Space Center visitor complex. But because NASA Administrator Bolden is coming here to Florida to make the announcement, it's believed that right here, where you see this display, all that's going to be torn down, and it's believed that one of the shuttles, probably "Endeavour," which is flying in a couple of weeks, will end up on permanent display in a building made just for it probably in about a year and a half from now -- Ali, Christine.
VELSHI: To go on them, John?
ZARRELLA: Well, a lot -- you probably can't. You're going to be able to go right up to them, walk right up next to them and get very close. It's doubtful that you'll be able to actually get on board one of these, on board one of the space shuttles because they're just to priceless an artifact.
VELSHI: Right.
ZARRELLA: I'll tell you, though, you know, it's believed Dayton, Ohio, might get "Atlantis." The Air Force museum there.
VELSHI: Yes.
ZARRELLA: They're one of the favorites. "Discovery" goes, of course, to the Smithsonian it looks like.
ROMANS: Right.
ZARRELLA: Then "Enterprise" which, you know, sits in the Smithsonian will go to one of these other locations at a reduced price because it never flew.
ROMANS: The only hope that it becomes a draw for some of these towns and allows them to, you know, the cafe and the gas stations --
ZARRELLA: Oh, it's going to be -- yes.
ROMANS: -- everybody make a little bit of money.
VELSHI: I think -- this is the first year. There are some -- museums always want things. But in this case, I think this changes the whole equation. If you didn't have a real space shuttle and you get one, I think it creates an entire industry. ROMANS: Awesome. All right.
ZARRELLA: Without a doubt. No question. They think 200,000 more visitors a year here, 15 million to the local economy, if they get one, and certainly Seattle, Washington, Tulsa, Oklahoma, Houston. It's going to be huge for which ever of these cities gets one, lands one of these shuttles. Maybe it will be right there with you guys up at the Intrepid Museum. Who knows?
ROMANS: Lands one of these shuttles. He's got a good way of sneaking those puns in there.
Thanks, John.
Half past the hour now. Our top stories. The FAA investigating a runway collision at New York's JFK Airport.
VELSHI: Wow, this is crazy.
ROMANS: The video posted on WNBC's Web site shows that Air France super jumbo jet, look at that -- hitting a Delta commuter plane as it was taxiing for takeoff. The commuter plane had just landed. It was just waiting to enter a gate. No one on either of those planes was injured.
VELSHI: Yes, as far as runway collisions go that was one of the better ones. Because it clipped the tail of the Delta plane and sort of just spun it around.
ROMANS: I mean, you got 600 people together on both of those planes, it could have been much worse.
And Japan raising the threat level from its crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, raising it to a category 7. That puts it on par with the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Japanese officials citing the totality of the radiation leak that now has contaminated the air, the ground and the water.
And the state of Florida getting a $30 million boost from BP. A grant from the oil giant will be paid to seven counties in the Florida panhandle over the next three years. It's designed to help Florida's tourism industry recover from the gulf oil spill.
VELSHI: And the former top military commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, he's taking a new leadership post with the Obama administration to support service members and their families. Barbara Starr has the details for us live at the Pentagon this morning. Tell us about this, Barbara.
BARBARA STARR, CNN PENTAGON CORRESPONDENT: Well, Ali, maybe you can go home again. At least General McChrystal seems to be going home again. Later today, he will be back at the White House for the first time since he was fired last year by President Obama. Of course, for those disparaging remarks in a "Tolling Stone" article.
Today, however, he is back at the invitation of first lady Michelle Obama. General McChrystal is going to be part of a new group called Joining Forces. This is a group that is going to try to encourage schools, businesses, local communities, to lend a hand to veterans and military families suffering years of stress, now from war deployments. So what is General McChrystal been up to before stepping back on the public stage today?
Well, he's largely stayed out of sight. He's writing a book. He has done some lecturing, some teaching, but he has stayed very, very quiet. This will be his step back on to the public stage and perhaps serving the Obama administration fairly well, because he remains very respected in the military community. There have been a lot of bad feelings about what happened last year. So now, they reach out to him, he comes back a little bit into the public arena, and everybody feels pretty good about it.
But General McChrystal really addressing a serious problem, veterans unemployment, military families stressed, post-traumatic stress, really serious issues, and he's been a long-time advocate for the troops. So this is something, by all accounts that he has really wanted to do.
VELSHI: Barbara, when he did what he did, when he made those comments to "Rolling Stone" the administration worked very swiftly on that. I mean, he was out on a dime. He was out before that plane landed that was bringing him back from Afghanistan. Aren't they worried about that signal, that you can do something, you can speak against the president, you can speak out of turn in the military, and you can come back home?
STARR: Well, you know, I think President Obama pretty much laid the ground work last year, the day he fired General McChrystal, he made clear he felt he had no choice because of what had happened, but he also made clear that General McChrystal has served the country and served the military very honorably for many years. It was basically viewed as a very serious lapse in judgment, but a lapse in judgment. Not something that was a court-martial offense.
General McChrystal himself has said to friends over the last year we know that he feels that this is something he will always be remembered for and a burden he will bear. You know, these are judgment calls. General McChrystal, a four-star, very respected.
VELSHI: All right. Barbara, thank you so much.
ROMANS: Americans love a second chance and redemption.
VELSHI: That's true.
ROMANS: And we've seen it in all kinds of different industries, all sports figures, politicians.
VELSHI: Yes.
ROMANS: Generals --
VELSHI: And he's really -- as Barbara said, he's respected by the troops.
ROMANS: All right. Still to come, it's been called financial doom's day. What happens, what really happens, if America hits its credit card limit? Renowned Harvard economist weighs in on the debt ceiling debate, next.
VELSHI: And scientists say there is a delicious, juicy fruit that can ward off a deadly form of cancer. I'll tell you what kind it is although you can probably guess from the pictures that we got up on the screen. Your "A.M. House Call" is just ahead.
Thirty-four minutes after the hour.
ROMANS: It's blueberries?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
ROMANS: OK. As we reported the nation is $86 billion away from hitting its debt ceiling. The White House said that would be Armageddon like for the economy. It's pretty strong wording here, you know. But are they right? If the debt ceiling is not raised by Congress do we really face a doom's day scenario? What is that --
VELSHI: The way we keep equating this to people's credit limits --
ROMANS: Right.
VELSHI: And if you were in charge of your credit limit you couldn't just keep on increasing it. It seems obvious you can't keep on doing it.
ROMANS: But the government does over and over again.
VELSHI: And what happens if the government this time doesn't?
ROMANS: Joining me now, Kenneth Rogoff, professor of economics at Harvard University. He wrote the book on financial crisis and is deemed a renowned economist. So Ken, tell us a little bit about -- you say it would be like committing suicide if they don't raise the debt limit. In layman's terms, explain to us what happens in the world? What does the world look like if we don't raise it?
KENNETH ROGOFF, PROFESSOR OF ECONOMICS, HARVARD UNIVERSITY: Well, the problem is, it's one thing to say "OK, we're done. We're not borrowing anymore. But we have plans," our government has plans, to spend more than a trillion dollars than it takes in. And if we don't raise the debt limit, we have to come up with the money another way. Raising taxes, cutting government spending. I mean we just can't do that. That fast. So we probably end up defaulting on our debt. We do it by not paying our debts.
And that -- something like that hasn't happened before. It would make what happened a couple years ago look minor. It would just be a meltdown, the dollars, the center of the universe.
VELSHI: But let's --
ROGOFF: -- in the world credit market.
VELSHI: But let's pare this down a little bit. When you say we might default on some debt, it would be all debt, it would be some debt and that would be bonds, basically that somebody wouldn't get the payment that they were going to get on a bond. What happens that day in the world, in the economy?
Well, so many things in the world are l) linked against the dollar. It's the gold standard. Trade in Asia, the trade in Europe, everything. Your bank accounts, everything. It would be a freeze in financial markets. I mean, we could get hyperbolic about it but it really is hard to imagine. Greece defaulting is one thing. This would be times a thousand. It's like nothing we'd ever seen.
ROMANS: And this is why over and over, no matter what, Republicans and Democrats come together and they raise it and they raise it again and they raise it again and they stand and they say it's a lack of leadership. The president himself said in 2006, it shows a lack of leadership, that we have to stand here and keep voting about raising the debt limit. He voted against raising the debt limit.
But overall, Congress does it again and again. I want you to listen to this sound bite yesterday from the president's spokesman who was asked about what would happen.
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JAY CARNEY, WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY: The consequences as Secretary Geithner and many others including the Speaker of the House, the Senate minority leader, Congressman Ryan have pointed out, the consequences of not, of failing to raise the debt ceiling, would be Armageddon-like in terms of the economy on the impact on interest rates, on job creation, on growth would be devastating.
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ROMANS: Ken, my question to you is, if this conversation we're having today, is this a result of Congress not doing its job before today? I mean isn't this about figuring out how it's going to run the country and how it's going to spend our money?
ROGOFF: Well, of course, Christine. That's right. But on the bright side, there actually is some serious conversation going on in Washington about what to do, not just this year, about the next 10 years. Their proposals by the centrists Senate group is, the gang of six, by the Ryan, President Obama's coming out with his proposal. It's about time. So it took this brinkmanship to get the conversation going. That's good. But for goodness sake, I hope they raise the debt limit at the end of the day.
VELSHI: Ken, Michelle Bachmann, the Republican member of Congress from Minnesota, who leads the Tea Party caucus, is one of those who says we are not voting to increase this debt limit, this debt ceiling, without some major concessions.
Now the bottom line is, it's playing with fire, but it is going to be so important to raise that debt limit that might politicians have to go along with that threat and cut elsewhere in the budget just to get this done?
ROGOFF: They do. I mean let's look at the deal they just cut on, you know, allowing the government to spend money again. Republicans holding only the House were able to cut a pretty good deal and the Tea Party looks and says do more for us. So they have a lot of leverage. It's, you know, if they're threatened to act nuts, you can sometimes get something done. But the trouble is just by accident it goes too far and we do end up defaulting as the White House said. I mean, it really is Armageddon. It really would be a catastrophe.
ROMANS: Well, interest rates go up, the dollar, you know, stocks, everything, oil, all tied in. But I'm telling you that there is a theme here that plays. To the American people who see Washington continually spending more money than it brings in, you see $14 trillion pile of money that we haven't -- we borrowed and haven't paid back, we say "enough is enough."
What does the world look like, Ken, going forward as we deal with that mountain of debt? Should Americans be prepared for higher taxes, fewer services, budget cuts and the like?
ROGOFF: We Americans have been voting for this. If someone comes and says, "I'm going to cut taxes, we love it." If they spend more money, we love it. We've been voting for it for a long, long time. It isn't our politicians, it's us. And yes, we'll have to make an adjustment. We can't do it quickly, but we were spending way more than we take in. We need a holistic fix of our whole system. It's not a simple thing, get rid of some of the tax deductions and things like that at the same time, but there are good ideas out there, but there's just no traction on them and a little bit here, but I suspect it will pass after they raise the ceiling.
ROMANS: Ken Rogoff, thank you so much. And you know, Ken talks a lot about tax reform too. So we'll talk about that, how we can fix the tax system as part of this holistic approach. Ken, thank you so much.
VELSHI: I like though that he said --
ROGOFF: Thank you (INAUDIBLE)
VELSHI: Good to see you, Ken. It's not you, it's us. Take responsibility for making those politicians fear that if they don't lower your taxes, and keep spending where it is, they're not getting back.
ROMANS: Politicians feeding into what America wants, which is a bigger middle-class lifestyle on the same or -- it's a very good argument. All right. Up next on "American Morning," two planes collide on the runway at JFK. One of them the biggest passenger plane in the world, we'll tell you what happened.
VELSHI: And we'll show you. And Nissan looking into a problem with its all new Electric Leaf. We'll have details on that.
Forty-four minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: A lot going on this morning. Here's what you need to know to start your day.
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ROMANS (voice-over): A collision on the tarmac at New York's JFK Airport. A giant Air France Airbus A 380 taking off, taxiing for takeoff, when it hit a commuter plane that had just landed. No one was injured.
The search for additional victims of a suspected Long Island, New York serial killer turning up a human skull. It's the ninth set of human remains found since December.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Vincent Gray released from jail over night. He was arrested on Capitol Hill yesterday while protesting the budget deal Congress struck.
Maximum nuclear alert. The threat level at Japan's crippled Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant has been raised to a category 7 on par with Chernobyl. And officials have widened the evacuation zone around the plant.
Nissan now investigating problems with its new all- electric Leaf. Drivers in the U.S. and Japan have complained that it doesn't start all the time. Nissan hasn't issued a recall saying it's not a safety issue.
U2's 360 world stadium tour is now the highest grossing road show ever so far taking in more than $554 million in ticket sales. When the tour wraps up in July, it's expected to have made more than $700 million for Bono and the boys.
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ROMANS: You're caught up on the day's headlines. AMERICAN MORNING will be back in 50 seconds.
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VELSHI: The cast of my favorite reality show is getting a huge raise. They'll get to spend it shooting next season in Italy, "Jersey Shore".
ROMANS: That's right. The eight-member cast has just wrapped up contract negotiations. Some of them are now reportedly pulling down $100,000 an episode. Snooki gets a raise.
VELSHI: I would guess Snooki is the higher in that group.
ROMANS: Spending $100,000 in beautiful Italy. America's cultural export to Italy, "Jersey Shore". I love it.
VELSHI: Someone tells me Jacqui is not a big "Jersey Shore" fan.
JACQUI JERAS, AMS METEOROLOGIST: I've never seen the whole show.
VELSHI: Is that right?
ROMANS: I haven't either, Jacqui.
VELSHI: I'm proud to say it.
JERAS: Have you -- you watch it?
VELSHI: I'm a total addict.
JERAS: Really?
ROMANS: I once said to the crew, it's not like that on "Jersey Shore." The guys are like yes, it is where we go.
JERAS: We need to party with them.
VELSHI: What you what do you got? Is there any party weather out there right now?
JERAS: My gosh, you know, a lot of people partying on spring break, that's going on. Speaking of spring breakers, watch out for the thunderstorms. Florida today, is going to be an area we'll be watching. There's also a threat of rip currents too.
If the red flags are flying, stay out of the water. Just saying. All right, here's the storm system that we're talking about. This is the one that produced all the severe weather in the Midwest yesterday and over the weekend.
It also caused some damage in Alabama overnight. Take a look at these pictures that we have for you out of the Huntsville area where winds in excess of 60 miles per hour toppled a whole bunch of trees. They landed on top of houses. They landed on top of cars.
So a lot of damage and thousands of people are waking up without power in that area this morning. Now that squall line has pushed off to the east. Good news is, it's weakened a little bit. So there we can see it just looking at your garden variety as we call it, showers and some isolated thundershowers.
So be aware of that as they head towards the coast and then as we take a look at the back side of this system, really heavy rain especially right along I-65 now from Nashville to Louisville up toward the Cincinnati area, watch out for water-covered street.
That's going to be a good possibility that heavy rain continues to come down that will push into the northeast, guys doing good for the commute, New York City, but say another couple hours from now, that rain is going to start to move in and the threat of severe storms will be midday into the afternoon hours, probably waning down after sunset for a change, across the Delmarva, eastern Virginia and North Carolina as well.
I think wind damage will be our primary concern. Nation's midsection here looking pretty good, pretty warm, not a bad spring day for you, but watching out for those dry and gusty conditions across parts of the southwest where those wildfires continue to burn.
Thousands of acres, unfortunately, still burning here, winds not help situation. Temperature-wise good across the nation's midsection, cool across the east. Hope you guys enjoyed the nice temperatures yesterday New York City.
ROMANS: Sure did. We sure did, Jacqui, thank you.
VELSHI: I'm heading that way a little later today, a routine trip, going from New York to Atlanta, but I'm crossing the Mason-Dixon line.
These days, 150 years after the civil war started, don't think this as a big deal, but a new poll by CNN Opinion Research show that about two-thirds of Americans still sympathize more with the union. But 23 percent of Americans sympathize more with the confederacy today.
If you break it down to just white southerners, the number of people sympathizing about with the union drops to just 48 percent. Fewer than half of white southerners in the United States sympathize with the union today, 39 percent sympathize with the confederacy, very eye-opening.
ROMANS: Perhaps showing a still very complex -- complex history 150 years later.
VELSHI: Well, the same poll actually breaks down to why you thought the war was fought. Again, big break down whether it was slavery or whether it was states rights. It -- there's some of those matters that haven't been resolved in some people's minds 100 years later.
ROMANS: You ponder the poll results on your trip across the Mason-Dixon Line.
VELSHI: I will do that.
ROMANS: This morning's top stories minutes away. Also, she tried to become the youngest woman to sail around the world. She was stopped by a 50 root rogue wave. She is lucky she escaped with her life. Abby Sunderlynn is here to tell us why that didn't sink her dreams.
VELSHI: It's 52 minutes after the hour.
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ROMANS: Eating strawberries may be a good way to protect yourself against esophageal cancer.
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ROMANS (voice-over): Scientists at Ohio State's Cancer Center collaborated on a study with researchers in China. They found strawberries decreased precancerous lesions and reduced cancer-related molecular events.
That ten times fast in patients that were predisposed of getting cancer of the esophagus. The researchers aren't sure, which ingredient in strawberries is actually deterring the cancer, but they found this definite link.
VELSHI: Those are the kind of studies I like, yummy foods that do good things for you.
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VELSHI: Two existing drugs taken together could help obese patients lose weight and reduce their blood pressure and cholesterol.
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VELSHI (voice-over): The study funded by the drug maker Venus gave over 2,400 people phentermine and Topamax in time-released doses. The average weight loss, 18 to 22 pounds. Venus is now trying to get the combination drug approved by the FDA.
ROMANS: If you need to lose a few pounds, you might want to blame your children. A new study by the researchers at University of Minnesota found mothers of young children are heavier and eat more unhealthy foods than childless women.
Scientist says moms are so busy they often reach for something quick like prepared foods, processed foods, which are higher in fat and calories and eat the scraps.
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VELSHI: I think that's what it is with me, when I'm around kids, give me some of that kid, you aren't going to finish that give me Mac and cheese and dip some chicken nuggets in it.
ROMANS: Kid's food is always the same color. You look at their plate, everything is the same color, which is not -- put some strawberries on that plate.
VELSHI: There you go. The next one is a meat-lover's dream come true, Burger King's new meat monster. Look at this thing, look that -- you got to look at this to understand what it is. That's a chicken breast, by the way, on top with two burger patties topped with bacon and cheese. Incredible heart attack is only available in Japan where it will cost you a little less than $10.
ROMANS: There's no real calorie count, if you do the math it comes doubt about 1,160 calories, 69 grams of fat, 13 grams of sugar and 54 grams of carbohydrates.
VELSHI: And a whole lot of sodium.
ROMANS: Whoa.
VELSHI: Top stories coming your way in just two minutes.
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